I had the pleasure this weekend of tour guiding a date around my city of Boston. The great thing is we did it totally by walking the city, rather than one of those trolley or Duck tours.
Thank goodness we're both fit people. All in all our 4 hour walk came to a total of 12.3 miles!
We started in Chinatown, hit Copley Square to check out the Trinity Church and John Hancock building, walked up Dartmouth street to the Charles River, followed that to Boston University, through Kenmore Square to Fenway Park (GO RED SOX !!), back through Kenmore to Boston Symphony Hall, past Northeastern University to the Museum of Fine Arts, back up through the Fens to grab Newbury Street (grabbed some ice cream too), strolled through Boston Common, jumped on the Freedom Trail, hit-up Faneuil Hall, and returned to Chinatown where we began.
Don't get me wrong, our calves are still burning. In fact, we went to a Wedding the next night and still tore some rug. And the next day we went to the beach.
But the take home message is this: A car isn't the only thing to get you from 'A' to 'B' or all the way to 'Z'! Walking can be a tremendous exercise if you get far enough and keep a good pace.
Think of it this way. We we're walking a total of 4 hours tops. We maintained a 3mph speed. At that rate you could finish a marathon in 8.5 hours! Realistically we could have walked and jogged the distance in about 5-6 hours...hey anything's possible ; )
So just remember, next time you've got some time to kill, or boredom sets in, go for a long walk. I'm sure you have some great hiking trails nearby or even a beautiful city such as Boston to take in the final days of the warm weather.
So don't be a slouch! Fitness is right before you...literally. You'll feel tremendous when you've accomplished your walk!
~B
helpful hint...wear walking shoes...not sandals, not indoor shoes, not heels or anything with an exaggerated lift in the heel
